- Title: MIDDLE EAST: Gaza war might sway voters, say Arab Israelis
- Date: 6th February 2009
- Summary: NAZARETH, ISRAEL (FEBRUARY 03, 2009) (REUTERS) YOUTH WALKING NEAR FENCE LINED WITH "BALAD" ELECTION CAMPAIGN BANNERS CLOSE OF BANNER READING (in Arabic): "OUR NATION IS STRONGER WITH BALAD" BALAD BANNER BALAD FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) JAMAL ZAHALKA, KNESSET MEMBER FOR BALAD PARTY, SAYING: "It is only natural that the Gaza war will have an impact on the elections. The imp
- Embargoed: 21st February 2009 12:00
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- Topics: War / Fighting
- Reuters ID: LVAAN72W1K6FWQVRGLROM7MOLSTI
- Story Text: As Israel takes to the polls in the aftermath of a 22-day incursion in the Gaza Strip, its Arab citizens express concern about the war's polarising impact on the upcoming parliamentary elections on Tuesday (February 10).
Muslim and Christian Arabs comprise about 20 percent of Israel's population. The 120-seat Israeli parliament has 10 Arab-Israeli representatives from the Hadash, United Arab List and Balad parties.
The majority of Arabs in Israel refer to themselves as Palestinians by nationality and Israeli by citizenship, an identity whose coherence is often tested by developments in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive on Dec. 27 with the stated aim of ending years of rocket fire from Gaza into southern towns.
The deaths of more than 1,300 Palestinians, some 700 of them civilians by one independent count, did nothing to undermine support for the offensive among Israel's Jewish majority, which lost 11 soldiers and three civilians during the latest fighting.
But the severity of the attack -- which drew wide international condemnation and prompted the International Criminal Court (ICC) to look into the possibility of Israeli war crimes -- has left many Palestinians living inside Israel shaken.
Balad Party MP Jamal Zahalka, one of three Arab parties running in the election, said voting was the most effective way to fight exclusion.
Israel's Arab citizens frequently complain of being treated as second-class citizens.
"We hope that voter turnout will increase, and we are working towards that, because there are those who do not want us in parliament, in the Knesset, and are launching a policy of "political transfer" against us. Our constituency will respond to that through more support for the national Arab parties," Zahalka said, referring to a recent decision by the Central Elections Committee (CEC) to ban Balad and the United Arab List from the elections.
The CEC, which oversees the Israeli electoral process, had reasoned that these parties opposed the Jewish character of the state of Israel and advocated armed conflict against it, but the decision was overturned by the Supreme Court on January 21.
The CEC had issued a similar ban in the 2003 and 2006 elections. These attempts were also over-ruled by the Israeli Supreme Court.
Both Balad and the joint Arab-Jewish party, Hadash, are trying to encourage voter turnout through public, rallies, meetings and visits to constituencies.
Muhammad Barakeh, who represents Hadash in the Knesset, believes that Palestinians will express their frustration through the ballot box.
"Large sections of our population feels challenged and feels the need to punish the parties that supported the offensive through the ballot box, to express their position against the offensive and to assert their presence and their rights," he said.
Over 90 percent of Hadash's voters are Arab.
Around 56 percent of Israeli Arabs voted in the 2006 elections and since then numbers have consistently dwindled.
Analyst Mohammed Daraweshe predicts that voter turnout could be even lower this year, as Palestinians resist the populist messages of Arab parties contesting seats in the Knesset.
"It had a negative impact because people don't want blood to be used for elections. They're saying: 'Don't use the massacres in Gaza to ask for our votes.' And I think that is a sign of political awareness within the Arab community, which refuses to be manipulated by political or partisan considerations," said Daraweshe.
Palestinians in Nazareth, Israel's most populous Arab city, said their was no point in voting because the Arab parties could do little to influence Israeli politics.
"Arab lists don't affect in the elections, they're pretty worthless," Youssef Hamad said.
Hussein Abu Rass, another Nazarene, said Arabs should simply boycott the elections.
"If there is justice and logic in life, we should boycott the elections. As for those who feel compelled to vote, they should of course choose the suitable Arab party," he said.
Significant voices in the Arab community, like the Islamic Movement and the nationalist Bnei Kfar movement, are also calling for a boycott of elections.
In Um al-Fahem, another Arab city in Israel, residents expressed a mix of hope and cynicism.
"I think it has become clear who the Arabs inside Israel will vote for. They will vote for the Arab parties in Israel. We have three parties: Hadash, Balad and the United Arab List. I hope that we get at least 12 seats," said Munzer Kasem.
But Emad Shahada was less optimistic.
"Most people today feel that the Arab Knesset members have no impact on the elections. It has been a Zionist Knesset since 1948, and until today nothing has changed. Since the attack on Gaza, people have been weary and depressed. They won't even bother to vote. So I don't think the elections will have an impact," he said.
The most recent polls predict that the three Arab-Israeli parties in the race -- Hadash, United Arab List and Balad -- will receive between 8 and 9 seats. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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